1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of streaming media delivery and, in particular, to an improved system and method for managing the resources of a streaming media system in response to user demand.
2. Description of the Related Art
The streaming of media content over a network, such as the Internet, is well known in the art. The streaming of audio content, such as music, or video content, such as live newscasts and the like, is most prevalent. In order to stream recorded video or audio, the video or audio file must be encoded into a streaming media format. Once the content has been encoded, it can be streamed from a live source or from a storage device.
Typically, in streaming media systems, the streaming content is uploaded to and stored on one or more storage devices. These storage devices are commonly referred to as filers and are generally high capacity optical disks capable of storing a large amount of data. To facilitate organization of the content stored on the filers, filers may be broken down into volumes and shares. The content is located on the share through use of a file path or publishing point. Streaming servers are capable of communication with the filers. Upon a request for on-demand content (i.e., archived content as opposed to live streaming content), the streaming server streams the content to the media player operating on the requesting user's computer.
In such streaming systems, a web page will include a link or uniform resource locator (URL) pointing directly to the streaming media content or will contain a URL identifying the streaming content to the streaming server. In other instances, a streaming redirector file, such as an “ASX” or “RAM” file can be used to identify two or more content files to the streaming servers. In all cases, when the URL is selected or clicked, the user's media player uses the path to identify the requested streaming media to the streaming servers, which in turn located the streaming media on the filers. The streaming media is then streamed to the user's computer via the media player as is well known in the art.
In high demand situations, such as when a popular piece of content is being accessed at a high rate, the bandwidth of the streaming system, i.e., the network connections between the filers, the streaming servers, and the end users, can become overloaded. Such situations can cause interruptions in the streaming of the content thereby resulting in a poor user experience. The solution in most instances is to increase the bandwidth and processing power of the various streaming media components. This solution, however, can add significant cost and may become unnecessary when demand for streaming content subsides.
Consequently, there is a long felt, but unresolved, need for a system and method that reduces streaming interruptions and thereby improves the streaming experience for the end user.